Edmund Rice (general)
|died= |image= |caption= Brigadier General Edmund Rice |nickname= |placeofbirth= Cambridge, Massachusetts |placeofdeath= Wakefield, Massachusetts |placeofburial= Arlington National Cemetery |placeofburial_label= Place of burial |allegiance=United States of America Union |branch= United States Army Union Army |serviceyears= |rank= Brigadier General |unit= |commands= |battles=American Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War |awards=Medal of Honor |relations= |laterwork= }} Edmund Rice (December 2, 1842 – July 20, 1906) was a soldier in the United States Army and a Medal of Honor recipient who achieved the rank of Brigadier General. Early life Rice was born in Brighton, Massachusetts to Moses Maynard Rice and Eliza (Damon) Rice. In 1856 he entered Norwich University in Vermont and remained there until 1858, but was not awarded a degree until 1874. After three years he became an apprentice to Captain Lloyd on the clipper ship, Snow Squall, that left Long Wharf in Boston in September 1858 headed for Shanghai, China. After ten months at sea Edmund arrived back in New York in June 1859. He then began working as a surveyor for his father's development interests. Civil War In 1861 Rice joined the 14th Massachusetts Infantry and was commissioned a captain. He was later transferred to the 19th regiment, and with that unit engaged in the Civil War battles of: Ball's Bluff, Siege of Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Savage Station, Glendale, Malvern Hill, and Antietam. He was promoted to the rank of major on October 1, 1862 and fought in the battle of Fredericksburg December 11,–13 1862. For his actions at the battle of Gettysburg in repelling Pickett's Charge, he was presented with the Medal of Honor in 1891. Made a lieutenant colonel in 1863, he commanded his regiment in the Rapidan Campaign, the battles of Bristoe Station, Blackburn's Ford, Robinson's Cross Roads, and the Mine Run. He commanded the 19th in the battle of the Wilderness on May 5,–7, 1864 and at the battle of Laurel Hill on May 8, 1864. He was wounded and captured in the assault at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, May 12, 1864. While being transported as a prisoner on May 23, he escaped by cutting the door of a freight car and jumping from it while the train was moving at 15 mph. He reached Union lines, near the Ohio River, twenty-three days later. He rejoined his unit in August 1864 and was placed in command of Fort Rice. He participated in the second battle of Deep Bottom, the battle of Weldon Railroad, the second battle of Ream's Station, and the battle of Hatcher's Run; he was in command of Fort Stedman and batteries Eleven and Twelve in front of Petersburg, Virginia. He was present at the surrender of the Confederate States Army at Appomattox Court House, and returned to civilian life on June 30, 1865. Altogether, he was wounded three times. Just a year later, he entered the United States Army and was commissioned a first lieutenant in the 40th Infantry, July, 1866. Reconstruction Rice married Annie Clark Dutch on August 30, 1866 in Charleston, South Carolina. He commanded the Post of Hilton Head, South Carolina and was also stationed in Raleigh, North Carolina, Jackson Barracks, Louisiana, Camp Distribution, Washington, D.C., and in Mississippi. In June 1868 Rice was assigned to the Springfield Armory to supervise the manufacture of the 'Rice Trowel Bayonet' for trial by the U.S. Army. While stationed there, his wife Annie died of tuberculosis only 11 months after their daughter was born, at the age of twenty. Rice's daughter, Corrine, was raised by his mother and siblings. Indian wars After the Civil War, Rice was consumed by his work, inventing the Rice Trowel, the Rice Stacking Swivel, and a knife entrenching tool. In 1874 he commanded an expedition against Ute tribe Indians near Spanish Peaks, Colorado, and volunteered for an 1876 campaign against Sioux Indians in Montana, in retaliation for the loss of the 7th Cavalry at Little Bighorn. Buffalo Bill Cody was employed as a scout to aid the company in its trip up the Yellowstone River in search of hostile Indians. In July 1879 Rice commanded a six-gun battery in Colonel Nelson Miles' expedition against the Sioux, north of the Missouri River near the Canadian Border. He took part in the engagement of July 17, where their Hotchkiss guns were used to disperse the Sioux. Rice spent the remainder of the Indian Wars of the 1870s and 1880s mostly at Fort Keogh, Montana, Fort Totten, North Dakota, and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; he was promoted to captain on March 10, 1883. He was Commandant of the Columbian Guard at the 1893 World's Fair. In 1881 he married his second wife, Elizabeth Huntington, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Corrine was then suddenly removed from her home in Massachusetts to live with her father and stepmother in the western frontier. The reunion was less than amicable and she returned to the east coast in 1888, settling in New Jersey with her husband Joseph H. Scharff, who was a grandnephew of secretary of State William H. Seward. Spanish-American War and Philippine-American War Edmund Rice served as U.S. Military Attaché at Tokyo, Japan from May 1897 through April 1898. At the outbreak of the Spanish American War, he asked to be relieved from diplomatic duty and to be given active field command. In May, 1898 he was appointed inspector general with the rank of lieutenant colonel on the staff of General Nelson A. Miles. Later upon the recommendation of Miles, Rice was promoted to colonel and placed in command of the Sixth Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment that saw active service in both Puerto Rico and Cuba. In July 1898, Colonel Rice was appointed by President McKinley to be the senior colonel of all U.S. Volunteers in the Philippines. He commanded the 26th U.S. Infantry, a New England regiment, that was involved in skirmishes against the insurgents and Moros. In 1899, he was appointed as Military Governor of the Island of Panay.p. 2477. In: Hearings Before the Committee on the Philippines, U.S. Senate, April 10, 1902. In that capacity following recommendations of the First Philippine Commission, he established public schools, took the census, and administered the oath of allegiance to over 60,000 Filipinos. He served until Filipino General Marin Delgado was appointed first Civil Governor of Panay on April 11, 1901.Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1901, Public Laws and Resolutons Passed by the Philippine Commission, U.S. Government Printiong Office, Washington, 1901. 815pp. He returned to the United States in July 1901 after suffering from fever and heart disease brought on by the harsh tropical climate. The Philippine-American War was Rice's last war. He served until his retirement in command of the 19th U.S. Infantry at the Presidio of San Francisco. Retirement Rice retired on August 14, 1903, with the rank of brigadier general. He served as Grand Marshall of Ceremonies at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. He became a member of the Medal of Honor Legion, Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Grand Army of the Republic, Society of Prisoners of War, Sons of the Revolution, and the Society of the War of 1812. General Rice served as Grand Marshall of Ceremonies at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904, and he spent the summer of 1905 with his daughter Corinne and her husband. He died "very suddenly" of heart failure "while sitting in a hammock" at Wakefield, Massachusetts, on July 20, 1906, lay in state in the Hall of Flags of the State House in Boston, and was buried in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, Elizabeth H. Rice (1849 – 1919) is buried with him. His grave is marked by a large rock with a 3.5 foot bronze sculpture of the Medal of Honor draped over the boulder with the inscription, "The Congress to lieut.-Col. Edmund Rice, 19th Mass. Volunteers, for conspicuous bravery on the 3rd day of the battle of Gettysburg." Genealogy Rice was a direct descendant of the early English immigrant, Edmund Rice as follows: Edmund Rice (1638) Association, 2007. Descendants of Edmund Rice: The First Nine Generations. (CD-ROM) * Brigadier General Edmund Rice, son of :* Moses Maynard Rice (May 12, 1811 – February 14, 1861), son of ::* Deacon Edmund Rice (August 13, 1785 – January 13, 1860), son of ::* Edmund Rice (December 28, 1755 – November 14, 1841), son of ::* Edmund Rice (July 10, 1725 – 1796), son of :::* Jason Rice (1692 – February 19, 1730), son of :::* Edmund Rice (December 9, 1653 – September 25, 1719), son of :::* Deacon Edward Rice (1622 – August 15, 1712), son of ::::* Edmund Rice (1594 – May 3, 1663) Medal of Honor citation Rank and organization: Major, 19th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Brighton, Mass. Date of issue: October 6, 1891. Citation: Conspicuous bravery on the third day of the battle on the countercharge against Pickett's division where he fell severely wounded within the enemy's lines. 1862-1896 version]] See also *List of Medal of Honor recipients References External links * Retrieved on 2008-10-19 *General Edmund Rice, Civil War Hero *Arlington National Cemetery: Edmund Rice Category:1842 births Category:1906 deaths Category:Union Army soldiers Category:Army Medal of Honor recipients Category:Norwich University alumni Category:People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery